Just One Yesterday
by VolcanoHeart
Summary: Being a girl playing in an all-boys basketball league isn't easy stuff - however, Mika Kobayashi is known as the best defender in all of Japan. She originally played at Teiko Middle school a year above the GOM, before completely disappearing for 2 years without explanation. Now, back in Japan and playing for SEIRIN high she has a promise to keep and more than a little to prove.
1. Mikayla Kobayashi

Mika hummed, her shoes clicking against the walkways, she was late. She hadn't meant to be late of course, however, the schools layout had played some nasty tricks on her memory and she'd gotten lost on more than one occasion that day. She knew she was headed in the right direction now, as she could hear the squeaking of basketball shoes against the gym floor.

She stopped outside the gym door, quick to pull her shoes off before making her way inside. She couldn't help but smile looking at the sight before her. She watched her new team practice for a few moments, trying to get a feel for them when something caught her eye.

"You are going to have to show them a little more if you want to play on the team, Kuroko"

That brought attention to her, the shock was clearly written across the blued haired boys face. It was odd to see such an expression on such a emotionless face.

A girl with short brown hair was suddenly in front of Mika, clipboard in hand. "Ah, you must be Kobayashi, Mikayla?" She glanced down at her board quickly to make sure she was pronouncing it correctly.

"Please, Mika is just fine. It's what I'm used to" Mika smile brightened, "Sorry I'm late, I got a little turned around"

"Don't worry about that," The girl brushed it off, "My names Riko, Aida. I'll be your coach"

Mika was a bit surprised at first but keen on the idea of a little more girl power in the league.

"It's nice to meet you" Mika spoke genuinely.

Mika followed Riko over to the bench where she dropped her bag off of her right shoulder, suddenly realizing how heavy it had been.

"It's been awhile, hey Kuroko" Mika said, extending her arms for a hug. He complied, wrapping his arms around the taller girl for a brief hug.

She was quickly introduced to the rest of the team, taking note of a few faces that looked unsure about her joining the team. It wasn't unusual and she was pretty used to having to prove herself to a team. She'd been playing basketball since she could remember and there was always those that had their doubts when she started to play in the guy's league.

"Alright, enough, let's get practice going again" A guy wearing glasses who's name Mika had already forgotten, said. "Kobayashi, you'll play with the first years. Do you need to warm up?"

She shook her head, more than ready, excited to feel the grip of the ball in her hands again. She pulled her ball shoes out of her bag, a combination of black and white, quickly slipping them on and lacing them up. Straitening up she unzipped her jacket and through it to the side.

Stepping onto the court she switched places with one of the kids.

"Where do you play?" One of the kids with brown hair. She noted that he was a bit smaller then her with a soft face. He'd been playing Point Guard before she'd come in.

"Shooting Guard is fine if you want to stay Point" She replied kindly while rolling her shoulders a bit to warm them up.

The kid started to dribble down the court towards the upperclassman. Mika shot Kuroko a glance as she jogged to her spot, he caught it and nodded. Time to put on a little bit of a show.

The guy with the glasses marked her, she figured he was the captain already by the way he organized the team. He had dropped off her a bit, playing it safe so he had time to judge her moves. Mika quickly analyzed the court, the upperclassman had a decent defense and didn't give much room to pass into the key.

"Hey," Mika called to her Point Guard. She did have a bit of an advantage at the moment. Her check wasn't going to play her too closely until he knew more of what she could do. It would be too risky for him to play a close D on her without knowing if she was fast enough to break by him. The pass easily came into her hands and the gap between players tightened a little too much. He underestimated her but that was okay because she was happy to show him up for it. She crossed over and back fluidly before slipping around the Captain. She was met with a wall made by two other players in the key. She yielded before swiftly passing to her left.

Mika didn't have to see the other player's confusion to know that it was there, she'd passed to a spot that wasn't being occupied by anyone, she knew it made her look stupid for the moment. Not bother however, Mika rolled off her defenders and behind them into the Key. Kuroko appeared into the spot she'd passed to, sending the ball back at her for an open layup.

Mika couldn't help but grin as the ball fell through the hoop. She looked over her shoulder at the scene behind her, the court was puzzled unsure of when Kuroko had gotten to that spot; and so it began.

* * *

Mika sat in class, the teacher droning on but her ears unhearing, her mind was somewhere else. She'd spoken to Kuroko after her first practice with the team. He'd told her everything that had happened. She hadn't come back expecting a fairy tale situation, but this sounded a lot worse then she'd originally expected.

"Mika" She startled a little, looking to her left to see Kuroko. Class had ended without her even noticing, good start to the term.

"Hey Kuroko" She said with a smile, standing up and grabbing her books.

"Riko wants the new recruits to go to the roof this hour" Mika looked her Kuroko to the door of her classroom to see Kagami leaning against the wall. She shrugged, it made no sense, but okay.

Mika rubbed the back of her neck, standing as she stood on the roof between Kagami and Kuroko. Riko stood in front of them spouting something about how they had to announce they're reason or goal for playing on the team. Mika's pursed her lips together and raised an eyebrow as the punishment of nakedness was brought forth. Not a situation she hoped to find herself in, but she gave Riko props on the scare tactic – fear was, after all, a powerful emotion.

"I am going to beat the Generation of Miracles and become the best player in Japan" Kagami yelled out over the railing the classes gathered below. Mika couldn't help but be a little shocked at his words, she hadn't really spoken to him much since joining the team. Kuroko had mentioned a bit about him the other day, but this was, well, unexpected.

As he walked back to his spot beside her, she couldn't help but watch him. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she tried to read his face. She'd seen him play obviously and he was a good player with a lot of potential. But could he really be at that level yet? He either had a lot of will power or he was incompetent in some way that wasn't immediately obvious.

"What." Kagami broke her thoughts, realizing she'd been staring at him.

She shook her head and looked away, "it's nothing- I just wasn't expecting you to say something like that"

* * *

Mika stretched her arms behind her back as she listened to the conversation.

"Wait..she was skipping? ARE YOU SURE!?" Hyuuga piped up suddenly from beside her, there was genuine concern in his voice. When the information was confirmed with a nod he continued, a dark aura surrounding him "Everyone. Prepare yourselves, this can only mean that our next opponent is going to be really strong."

Mika crossed her arms as the gym doors opened to revel an overly cheerful Riko. She was quite excited to inform everyone that she'd set up a practice match with Kaijo High. This of course meant little to Mika, until Izuki mentioned a name the she knew all too well.

"Wait, doesn't Kaijo have one of the Generation of Miracles?"

Riko nodded, "Kise, Ryota"

Mika glanced down at Kuroko, who didn't seem too phased, but still didn't look too happy about it. Kagami on the other hand, looked ecstatic to be playing the one of the GOM so soon.

The team was suddenly interrupted by a horde of fangirling - speak of the devil.

"Sorry about this!" The blond spoke, completely surround, "Can you just give me a second"

It took a bit but Kise was eventually free to make his way over.

"Kuro-iichi, Mia-iichi!" He sounded like his usual cheerful self, but something was off about him, even if Mika couldn't pinpoint it, she knew he wasn't the same.

He'd gotten taller since Mika had least seen him and their height difference had her biting her tongue to suppress her Napoleon syndrome.

"When I found out who we would be playing next I just had to come check it out when I remember that Kuro-iichi was going to be here. And how nice to see Mia-iichi playing again too!" He draped an arm heavily around her shoulders, leaning on her slightly. "We were all really good friends back in middle school"

Kuroko was quick to shut him down, as Mika gently shoved his arm off of her shoulders. It wasn't long before Kagami challenge Kise to a match, one-on-one. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea, but at the very least, maybe she could get a little taste at how much the GOM's talent had increased.

* * *

Kuroko watched as Mika made her way out of the gym after saying goodnight to everyone. It had taken him a while to gather and maybe part of that was from denial, but she wasn't that same. She certainly wasn't to the extent of the GOM's personality transformation, it was far more subtle, but maybe that's why he found it so concerning.

He just couldn't remember her eyes being quite so dark.

 **Hi there, thank you for reading. I'll apologize for the fact that I wrote this really quickly because I wanted to see how the story would be received before continuing. It's an idea that I've had for a while and I was excited to finally write a chapter for it. I'm still trying to figure out how to do time skips in the chapters, I'm not sure if I like the line thing or not yet, but I don't want to drag out scenes too much either. Anyways, let me know what you think and I'll start working on a new chapter in the meantime.**


	2. Kaijo High

Kuroko had been extremely quiet all morning, which seemed silly to say considering he wasn't the most talkative at the best of times. However, this was different, Mika had played alongside him long enough to know when something was troubling him.

Kaijo High was huge and it was hard not to be, at least, a little overwhelmed by the presence. The team was nervous, although it was masked by general chitchat about this and that from the players. Although labeled as only a practice game it was obviously more than that to the members of SEIRIN. It was imperative for them to win, however daunting that task might be.

Mika wasn't sure what to think. She had seen Kise play against Kagami when he dropped by for a visit the other day, but she'd hadn't been able to fully gauge him. Kagami hadn't seemed to be that bothered with having Kise beat him and she could only wonder if maybe he was rethinking his speech about beating the Generation of Miracles. It wouldn't have been the first time that something like that had happened in her time. It is always easy to be cocky when you didn't know the full extent of what you are up against.

* * *

Riko was livid, Kaijo's coach was completely underestimating them, and the practice match was nothing but a joke to him. SEIRIN was fully aware that they were the underdogs but it had still been an insulting blow with him only allocating half of the gym for the match – but that wasn't the only thing either. Kise had been told to sit out as well.

The coach was a short, overweight man with a toupee of black hair on his head. Mika, who was standing slightly behind Riko and Hyuuga, listening in on the conversation, piped up calmly.

"You will put Kise in, it's just whether or not you come to your senses before we force you to" Her words came across as calm and blunt, but there was an underling sharpness to them.

"Huuh?" He was quick to respond, although unable to get angry at her words due to another fact, "What kind of a joke is this team? You even have a girl playing for you."

Kise who had been moping on the bench for a bit, looked over at the comment. Hyuuga huffed before turning around and ushering Mika over to the bench.

* * *

Kagami stepped onto the court, Kuroko a pace behind. It had been decided that Mika would sit out the first half of the game, switching with Izuki at the start of the second half. It was only fair and besides, it gave her time to size up the opponents and her own teams mentality in a game situation. No matter how much practice you had or how many different drills you did, it was impossible replicate a game situation fully.

The tip off was in favour of SEIRIN, the ball in Izuki's hands he quickly made his way down the court with the rest of the team. Mika's eyes followed the ball as it was passed to Kagami. He was far more fired up then anyone on the court had anticipated, so it was quite the surprise when his dunk broke the hoop clean off the backboard. Mika couldn't help but grin, she was going to like this kid, she could tell already. Besides the fact, he reminded her of someone that she used to play with, he had the same spirit for ball.

Mika swore she could see steam coming out of the coach's ears as he ordered the full court to be used for the rest of the game. It was a bonus when the energetic blond stepped onto the court, and Mika couldn't whip the smug look on her face as she patted Kagami on the back. He was still rather stunned by the whole ordeal, glancing over to the hoop that lay in the corner, as if he couldn't believe that he'd actually accomplished that.

It was a fast paced game that Riko openly expressed her concerns about. SEIRIN simply didn't have the training to keep the speed up, they were okay now, but there were concerns about how long they would last. Luckily enough, Kagami was keeping score with Kise.

Kise had improved, Mika couldn't deny that. He had probably the greatest potential of the Generation of Miracles, however, he wasn't quite to the level that Mika had expected him to be. It truthfully stumped her. Kuroko had mentioned much about the Generation of Miracles personality and team play changes, so she could only wonder if that had something to do with Kise's diminutive growth in the sport.

Kaijo's Point Guard caught Mika's eye on more than one occasion. He wasn't particularly tall, only about a few inches taller than herself. He was quick though, with high energy and determination that his team mates could easily feed off of. A natural leader.

Kuroko's misdirection was wearing off, there was no doubt about it – But he explained the situation to the rest of the team calmly. The first quarter was over and Kaijo had a small lead on them. Easy to come back from in theory, although exhaustion wasn't out of the equation for SEIRIN. Mika was on edge, she wanted to play, even if that was a little selfish. The second quarter started and they kept to the original plan, even with Kuroko's misdirection having less effect.

The game turned in SEIRIN's favour, Kagami and Kuroko coordinating well together. That was until Kuroko was forced to sit out due to injury. There was only a few minutes left in the first half, but Mika was excited to be in anyways, substituting for Kuroko.

* * *

Back on the bench with the first half over, both teams couldn't help but notice that there was a different energy brought with Mika on the court. She was small but intense. Most remarkable was that she was incredibly good at defense, having completely shut Moriyama down in the two minutes that she'd been on the court.

"Miacchi is so cool! Isn't she, Senpai?!" Kise had stated much too excitedly, which had earned him a jab in the ribs from Kasamatsu.

"Don't sound so happy about it, she's going to cause us trouble!"

"You used to play with her, do you have any idea how to get past her, Kise?" The coach asked curiously about the girls defense, only to be disappointed.

Kise shrugged, the edge of his lips curling into a smile as he spoke, "I don't know, she was always better than me, her defense ranked first in Japan when she was playing for Teiko"

Riko brought forth a new idea that had Kagami and Mika focusing on defense. Kagami would continue to check Kise, while Mika would switch checks with Izuki and take on Kasamatsu instead.

Kasamatsu hadn't looked too fazed when Mika picked him up as he made his way to the other end of the court. He was careful with the ball, unsure of her capability, but would definitely give her the benefit of the doubt with the knowledge that she used to play on par with the Generation of Miracles.

His eyebrows fused together in confusion as he crossed the ball between his legs and then passed to Moriyama on the left. Mika hadn't moved, in fact she barely reacted, eyes focused completely on his chest. Moriyama passed the ball into the key to Kise, who took the shot but was blocked by Kagami.

"Kuroko? I thought defense was supposed to be Mika's specialty…" Riko asked, looking to the blue haired boy that held an icepack loosely to his head. "She didn't react at all"

"She is testing him." Kuroko replied evenly, continuing to explain when Riko looked confused. "She is trying to gauge his character, whether he is more likely to pass or shoot when the defense is slack. That will depend on the type of defense that she will play on him. "

They were back at SEIRIN's end of the court and Mika and Kasamatsu in the same position. He fell into the same routine, passing to Moriyama who was seemly open. Mika didn't stay put this time, she was quick, and the ball in her hands before most had realized what had happened. A breakaway, keeping her speed down the court for an open layup.

* * *

Getting ready to start the fourth quarter, SEIRIN and Kaijo were tied now, although with the pace of the game being so fast, a lot of the members were feeling the burn. They needed to pull ahead soon as it seemed that Kaijo had a bit more stamina then them.

Mika started to put a little more pressure on Kasamatsu by playing a half-court defense on him. Lucky for her, being able to rest the first half, she wasn't even close to tired. However, the captain wasn't dead yet and managed to keep up the pace, although, he was finding it notably more difficult to pass and there was too much risk in trying to take a shot.

There wasn't much time left on the clock, but SEIRIN had managed to pull ahead again with a 2 point lead. Izuki passed to Mika who dribbled towards the key, bring the defense on her before kicking the ball back out to Hyuuga for a three to make it a 5 point lead.

The team managed to keep the defense on and ended the game with Kagami scoring the final point.

* * *

Although the hospital had giving Kuroko the all clear, Mika had to wonder if they'd been right, as the team had managed to lose him within 5 seconds of leaving the Steakhouse. Mika was currently walking with Hyuuga, in search of the blue haired boy.

"Good game today" Mika mentioned, trying to make some sort of small chat, "you've got a nice three you know."

"Ah, thanks" Then there was a very awkward pause that seemed to last just a little too long, "Hey, I, want to apologizes to you –"

Mika smiled, "I appreciate it Hyuuga, I really do, but there is no need"

He looked genuinely puzzled, lost for words.

"I know what you are going to say, but I don't blame you for being unsure about me playing for the team. You aren't the first person and you certainly won't be the last to have doubts. It doesn't bother me much anymore, so don't worry yourself about it – I promise my feelings aren't hurt"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!** **I felt a little bit weird about changing the original story line, but at the end of the day, it sort of has to happen. I'm really sorry if that bothers any of you, I certainly don't mean to do that. It's simply that by bring in another character, it would change how things happen and also, I do want to show that Mikayla is a strong player. So, that's why Kuroko isn't brought into the game again. I know it may seem obvious, but for some reason I worried about it, so ya, that's that.**


	3. What is Strength?

"Why don't we stop for a while?" Mika spoke against the crisp morning air.

"Sorry, Mika" Kuroko managed through raged breaths a few paces behind.

Mika waved off the apology, there was no need. The two stopped and a smile cracked across Mika's face. She'd been asked, by Riko, to work on Kuroko's stamina and so, he was now joining her on morning runs. "It's alright, Kuroko"

Kuroko was bent over, hands on his knees. Mika on the other hand, stood tall with her hands resting on her hips as she stared over the river beside them.

"Mika." Mika glanced back at Kuroko to see that he had caught his breath and was now standing straight, looking intently at her. She raised an eyebrow. "What do you think of Kagami?"

"In what way?" Mika replied. She started to slowly walk back down their path, encouraging Kuroko to do the same. When Kuroko didn't say anything and instead continued to look forward, Mika pressed a little more, "Well, He has potential as a player and certainly good asset for the team. The two of you make a decent combination – I mean he's a little cocky, but it's manageable…"

"Do you think he is like the Generation." Now there was a double meaning that Mika nearly missed.

She stopped abruptly, lightly grasping Kuroko's arm and bending down a little to be more level with him. "I won't let that happen, Kuroko"

Her face was stern as she looked him directly in the eye, willing him to believe her. "I promise"

Kuroko nodded, more reassured about the situation. Mika huffed lightly.

"What happened to you, Mika" She'd be lying if she wasn't slightly taken aback by the question. They had been close before she'd left, so it was understandable that he would ask. She let go of his arm, straightening up with a soft look on her face as she reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Why don't we leave that story for another time, yeah?"

He was unreadable as ever, "I really am glad that you're back, Mika…"

* * *

He was much taller than Mika had originally envisioned, Papa something or other from Sengal. He had extend-o arms, Mika swore it, because he seemingly found every rebound. That being noted, missing shots wasn't really an option for SEIRIN. On top of that, he was also a problem on the offensive front, gaining a lot of points for his team – and also, Mika felt it appropriate to add list of the reason of why she didn't like this guy, he had insulted not only Kuroko, but herself as well.

Mika grabbed the ball, quickly inbounding it to Izuki who started down the court. She trailed after him, watching as he weaved his way through the players until coming to an abrupt stop to survey the scene. Mika crossed behind Izuki who rotated the ball behind his back, handing it off to her. She started to attack the key, trying to push closer to the basket and in turn bring the defense on her to hopefully make it slack somewhere else. Hyuuga's check dropped off of him to help guard Mika, she let them linger for a second, eyes darting behind her before popping the ball out to Hyuuga. He stood just behind the 3 - point line, already in position. It had unintentionally become a bit of an unspoken pattern for the pair.

He made the basket.

SEIRIN was taking the lead now, the team could see a fire starting to burn inside the red headed lumberjack after he'd managed to block one of Papa's shots. Kuroko was on the bench to conserve energy, but his absence didn't seem to be a problem for this game. It wasn't until the last quarter that the blue haired boy was placed back in and Mika took the bench.

* * *

SEIRIN was confident, having crushed their next opponents, but Mika didn't need to be taken to watch a Shutoku game to know that trouble lay over the horizon. She could never argue that confidence wasn't important to have – but there was a line. A very thin line that could be easy to miss if one wasn't paying attention. Too much confidence could make you blind to reality of the situation and swallow one in the belief that you can win without practicing. Confidence could be ugly if not handled in the correct way.

Yet, she sat in the stands watching the game. She grabbed a few glances at Kagami who sat to her right, he was intensely following the game. A mixture of emotions expressing across his face, which left Mika wondering what he could be thinking as he watched the Midorima play. It didn't seem to matter to him if a player did in fact have more skill then him. He was driven completely by a desire to play and to push himself, could that desire slip into something more? It had obviously happened before, so was there something different about Kagami that it wouldn't develop into the monstrosity of winning is everything.. or was it inevitable.

Looking away, Mika realised that Kuroko's words from the other morning had stayed strongly with her.

* * *

Walking home from school, Mika's bag bounced lightly against her hip when a familiar blond caught her attention.

"Mia-cchi!" She smiled lightly, being driven from her thoughts as she was attacked from the side with some form of a hug.

"What are you doing around here, Kise?" She asked, intrigued at his unexpected presence.

He dropped his arms from around her and frowned childishly, "So blunt! I was just in the area and remembered that you used to live close by..Let's chat"

The playful tone was back in his voice nearly as soon as it had left, Mika didn't have time to reply. The tall model had ahold of her hand and was leading her down the pathway a little, until they came across a park bench.

"Why is Mia-ichii playing for such a boring team" He whined, sitting down quickly. Everything about Kise was loud, sudden and excited, it tired Mika just watching him at times.

Raising an eyebrow she sat followed suit and sat down next to him, "Need I remind you, that so called 'boring team', managed to beat your team"

Kise face scrunched up at the comment before changing completely. There was something darker about him, an underlining sinister atmosphere as his words cut like a knife.

"But you aren't _strong_ with them"

Mika dared to stare back at him, he loomed over her even in this position. Leaning his body back slightly on his elbow and a charming smile dancing across his face – to anyone watching the situation would have been read very differently. He had a very good habit of seeming friendly even when he was actually being cruel.

Kise watched her face, wondering if he had gone too far. He had a habit of saying whatever came to mind and everyone around him had always accepted that, even though he wasn't entirely sure why he was like that. It seemed that he was always trying to get a rise out of people, some weird obsession to people's reactions. He expected her to scold him and pinch his cheek like she used to, or rather, that's what he wanted her to do. When she didn't however, he felt an odd feeling in his chest, it was subtle and even though he tried to pretend that it wasn't there, it hurt a little. A last reminder that nothing was like it used to be.

Kise wasn't wrong, she couldn't deny it. She wasn't as strong as she used to be and she certainly didn't hold her title as the strongest defense. Maybe that's why she felt a little pain in her heart at his words, because she knew that it was true. Perhaps even more because she was unsure of how to handle it and there was a longing to put things back to the way that they originally were.

She paused for a long time before looking away, "you're right. I'm not as good as I used to be.. But then again, either are you."

Kise looked genuinely confused, "what do you mean?"

Mika could only shake her head, eyes softening as she smiled again, "None of you are. I can only hope that, one day, you'll realise why because that is the day that all of the Generation will truly unleash its full potential."

"Mia-cchi! You are saying weird things!" Kise pushed "We are all stronger then we were in middle school"

Mika looked back at the younger boy, trying to regain the soft and mothering side that she used to have for the Generation. "I don't think you are."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed :)**

 **If you have any feedback, i'd love to hear it!**

 **Cheers.**


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